Can two walk together except they be agreed? Amos 3:3.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
The sanctified life is a life lived in perfect agreement with My Word. And that is the best life, the highest life, the abundant life, and the blessed life. Blessed is the one who hears the Word and keeps it. Luke 11:28.
How sweet are Your Words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103.
My Words are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. My Words have healing in them and are filled with life. My Words are words of eternal life. My Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged (diastomos, which means two mouthed) sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12.
My Words make things and move things. My Word created all things, including you. Most people do not realize this, so they speak from their emotions rather than from their spirit and wonder why their lives are so plagued with infirmities and disasters.
Death and life are in the power of your tongue. What you are speaking, the fruit of your lips, is what you are eating, and what you are eating determines what kind of life you are living. Even in the physical realm, what you eat shows in your size, shape, and health. You really are what you eat, in both the physical realm and the spiritual realm.
And just as what a parent feeds their child physically determines their proper growth and health, so does what you feed them with your words in the spirit.
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. 1 Peter 2:1-3.
Your ear tests words as your palette does what you eat. If you do not like the taste of something you put in your mouth, you spit it out. The same should be true when you hear words of evil intent, gossip, fear, degradation, and any other statement that does not agree with My Word about you and about your life.
But let Me take you a little further in this for you have a high calling in Christ as a keeper of My Word. When I released My Covenant people, that is, the descendants of the man who made covenant with Me by faith, Abraham, My friend, out of the slavery of Egypt, I wanted them all to know Me from the least to the greatest. And how was I going to do this? By giving them not only My spoken Word but My written Word so that they would be My royal priesthood, offering My Word to the world and bringing all into covenant with Me, to be the keepers and teachers of My Word and the intercessors for My people.
Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own special treasure among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” Exodus 19:3-6.
Immediately after the passage I shared earlier in this Life Lesson from the first letter of Peter (the one about growing on the milk of the Word), I continue on to say:
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5.
Here again you are seeing Me seeking your fellowship and partnership as My royal priesthood. And then I summarize who I have made you to be in Jesus:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10.
And Jesus Himself verifies this for you:
To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Revelation 5:1-6.
I have, in Jesus, cleansed and released you from sin and my desire to have a royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifice to win souls to the Kingdom and intercede for those who are more difficult to bring in. But, just as under the Covenant between Me and Moses and the people, when the entire people rejected My call and only the descendants of Levi remained zealous for and loyal to My Word, I made them into My priesthood and I was their portion. But now Jesus has made you all My royal priesthood, but just as of old there was one High Priest and the rest of the priests were his brethren so too is it now. Jesus is your great High Priest, but I tell you of what He is High Priest: of YOUR confession.
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle [in Greek, “Apostolos”: a messenger, delegate, envoy, one sent on a mission] and High Priest [in Greek, “Archiereus”: chief, preeminent, the leader among priests] of your confession [in Greek, “homologia,” which is made up of two words, “homou,” which means “the same,” and “logo,” which means “word,” also, “lego,” which means “speak”]. Hebrews 3:1.
Consider Him—His merits, His love, His beauty, and these are yours in Him too. Do you see what the amazing passage of Hebrews 3:1 quoted above is telling you? You are partakers of the heavenly calling to prayer and fellowship with Me as a royal priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices through Jesus Christ unto Me, your Father! 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1:5-6. And how do you do this? By speaking the same Word with Jesus—He is the Apostle (envoy) and High Priest of your “homologia.” He is your great High Priest over the kingdom of priests that He has made you by His Blood. Revelation 5:9-10. And just as only brothers who were sons of Aaron could be priests under the Old Covenant, so now your brother Jesus has made you priests to the One He calls “Father.” And that is none other than Myself—your creator, your Father. and your God.
By His Blood My Son has released you from your sins and made you a kingdom of priests unto Me. Revelation 1:5-6. My Son is the living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in My eyes as the corner stone, and you, in Him, are all living stones being built up to a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Me through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5.
Now, the sanctified life is living out your high calling to the royal priesthood. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. You are anointed with the same anointing of Jesus as My royal priesthood with Him as your head, leader, shepherd and King.
And the ministry of the priests encompasses many facets. A priest is My way of going to the people and the people’s way of coming to Me. The priest teaches My Words and ways to the people and then He intercedes for the people before Me. A priest ministers to Me in fellowship, prayer and worship, and he ministers to the people in teaching, interceding for them in prayer and petition, and offering the sacrifices to Me in atonement for the sins of the people so their sins are taken away and I can bless them.
You have a heavenly calling to prayer before Me as an intercessor. The priest under the Old Covenant, which was a shadow of the good things to come, was the one who offered the blood of the spotless lamb after it was slain by the sinner who offered it and then the priest arranged it upon the bronze altar and offered the burnt offering for the sinner to make atonement and obtain forgiveness for the sinner and/or for the nation, depending on the offering. Leviticus 1:1-9. And this offering by fire was of a fragrant aroma before Me. Leviticus 1:9, Leviticus 2:5.
But this is very vast and deep. If you note, when the sinner brought the spotless male lamb to the doorway of My tabernacle in the wilderness, the sinner first laid his hand on the head of the spotless lamb that it would be accepted to make atonement on his behalf. This is mirrored by My imputing all your sins to Jesus so that in Him you are made righteous with My own righteousness, the righteousness of the lamb whom you have received as your own. When you take Jesus as your Lord, His righteousness becomes yours. Love consists not in that you have loved Me, but that I have loved you and given My Son as propitiation for your sins, and not your sins only but those of the whole world.
The sinner than would himself slay the offering before Me. It is your sins that slew Jesus. Not another’s. He takes away the sins of the whole world. Know this of first importance, Jesus died for your sins. The priest did not slay the spotless lamb for the sinner, he slew the lamb himself. And so it is with you. But it was Aaron’s sons the priests who would offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood round on the altar, and they would do this with the offerings, such as the sin offering, first for themselves and then for the sinner and then for the people and then for the nation. And it was also the priest who would arrange the slain animal upon the bronze altar and offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a fragrant aroma to Me. Leviticus 1:1-9.
If the whole congregation had sinned, then the assembly would offer the sin offering and bring it before the tent of the meeting and the elders of the congregation would all lay their hands on the animal’s head and slay the animal. Then the anointed priest would bring some of the blood to the tent of the meeting and dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before Me in front of the veil, and the rest he would put on the four corners (horns) of the altar and all the rest he would pour out at the base of the bronze altar. Leviticus 4:13-18.
Are you beginning to realize your duties as a priest? Listen to what My servant Paul knew from the great High Priest about your ministry as a priest: “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men.” 1 Timothy 2:1. You should take this seriously, I am depending on you.
Many are lost because even though their sins have been taken by Jesus they have not put out their hand (the hand of their tongue in confessing Him as Lord) to receive Him as their Lamb. You must offer Him for them and sprinkle His blood before Me in prayer and pour it out upon the altar, and then, as Moses would do, then sprinkle and pour it out on the sinner himself to do a deep and cleansing work in Him. Hebrews 9:19-22.
And remember this is SPIRITUAL sacrifice, not physical. Of Old, the priests offered the physical blood of lambs, goats, rams and bulls, but now you offer spiritual sacrifice of that heavenly spotless blood of the true Lamb that He Himself has already laid upon the mercy seat in Heaven giving eternal redemption and speaking louder than the blood of Abel for the forgiveness of every person from the beginning to the end of time, calling you to redemption, calling you to everlasting righteousness. Hebrews 9:11-15.
I am entrusting to you this sacred ministry of prayer. You are to offer prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings for kings and all who are in authority, so that you may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. And such prayer is good and acceptable in My sight for I desire all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3. And you can save souls by prayer, bringing the spotless Lamb Himself before Me, for He is both the victim and the High Priest. And you are wise to save souls. Proverbs 11:30.
And you who you are praying unto Me as a royal priest. This is a great and dignified office.
Stop offering Me selfish, complaining, whining prayers! Know the greatness of your office, the beauty of the dignity in which I have clothed you, and the great authority I have given you right at My very throne behind the veil in the Holy of Holies, where no one of old could enter but the High Priest Himself. But now you are in Him and He ushers you in as your forerunner before you! For I have made you unto Me a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for My own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Jesus who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are My people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10.
Therefore, remember that formerly, under the Old Covenant, you, the Gentiles in the flesh, were separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and pursuing idols, without Me in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is your peace. His death reconciled all to Me and made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to Me through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him all have access in one Spirit to Me, as your Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of My household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in Jesus, in whom you also are being built together into My dwelling in the Spirit. Ephesians 3:11-22.
And in My tabernacle in the wilderness and later in the great temple Solomon built, before the Holy of Holies, just outside the veil before entering, was the golden altar of incense. And the fire of that altar was always lit, as it was on the bronze altar, to offer up incense before Me on the burning coals. The High Priest could only enter behind the veil in a cloud of incense. And you know from reading My Word that the incense before My throne in Heaven, presented at My golden altar in golden bowls, is your prayers. The prayers of My kingdom of priests. Your prayers before Me as a fragrant cloud of incense. David once sang to Me: “May my prayer rise up as incense before You, and the lifting of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Psalm 141:2. Already he was offering spiritual sacrifice before Me as a king and priest—a royal priest. David was a prophet and He knew of Christ, just read Psalm 22, and though he was not of the line of Aaron, but of Judah, he sat before the Ark of the Covenant and he offered burnt offerings. 2 Samuel 6:17 (“So they brought in the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.”)
Come and fulfill your priestly office. I am counting on you to authorize Me to stop national disasters, plagues and storms by your intercession and spiritual sacrifice before Me. Do you not recall? “David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus, the LORD was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.” 2 Samuel 24:25. How much more now for you who are not offering the blood of bulls and goats but of Jesus Himself. For you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, and pray for one another, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through My living and enduring Word. 1 Peter 1:18-23. And I have put My Spirit on you and My Words in your mouth. Isaiah 59:21. Do something with it. I am counting on you as My royal priesthood to pray My Kingdom and My Will into the earth.
Have you ever taken your calling and vocation seriously? Take up the sword of the Spirit, which is My Word and with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and especially that utterance may be given to those preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus Christ so they may speak out with boldness the mystery of the gospel. Ephesians 6:17-19. And confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5:16. Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time before you meet with people at your workplace, school, market, etc. that I will open up a door for the Word, so that you may speak forth the mystery of Christ in a way that will touch hearts and save souls. Colossians 4:1-3. For the ministry of the priest was not only to offer sacrifice and incense before Me but also to instruct the people in My Word, and to care for the poor. And the priest tithed the tithe he was given.
Remember that the prayers, acts of love, and almsgiving of Cornelius came up before My throne? Acts 10:4. So too, your prayers, acts of love, almsgiving, and tithes and offerings come up to Me as a fragrant offering. Philippians 4:15-19 (“You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”)
And there is still much more! Deuteronomy 33:10 (“They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob, And Your law to Israel. They shall put incense before You, and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.”); 2 Chronicles 13:11 (“Every morning and evening they burn to the Lord burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and the showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening.”) The priest interceded for the people, offering the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the shame offering for atonement, mercy and grace (Leviticus 1- Leviticus 9), the priest offered the fragrant incense before Me, the priest instructed the people in My Law (Nehemiah 8:9), the priest instructed the king and the king consulted the High Priest for national decisions using the urim and thummin (“Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.” Exodus 28:30), and the priest also lit the lamps of the Menorah and tended their wicks each evening and morning before Me. And the priest, to do all this, had to know My Word and know it well.
And one more thing, it was the priests who blew the trumpets. Joshua 6:20; 1 Chronicles 16:6; 2 Chronicles 5:12; 2 Chronicles 29:26; Ezra 3:10.
Do you see why I tell you to pray without ceasing and to go forth to make disciples of all the nations? 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 28:19. It is part of your ministry as My royal priesthood, My own special possession, a people set apart from darkness into My own marvelous light.
Have you ever taken your calling seriously? Your high calling in Christ? You are a royal priest and one to be welcomed at all times in the very Holy of Holies, right at My throne of grace. Come and help Me to move hearts, families, cities and nations. I am depending on you, My royal priesthood. Why are you standing there idle all day? You could be praying. So much is depending on your prayers. You have a job to do. And it is the most important calling there is, in Heaven and on earth. It is what Christ is doing in Heaven and you, as His body, should be doing on earth. And you are not alone, you are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses all joining in prayer with you and cheering you on.
You view yourself too small. The Israelites never took the promised land for they saw themselves as “grasshoppers.” They never saw themselves in the mirror of My Word. Start seeing yourself in the mirror of My Word and you will be amazed at how I see you in Christ- beautiful, blameless, holy, righteous, victorious, more than a conqueror, and a royal priest. Start walking in your royal dignity in the life of good deeds I prepared for you in advance in Christ. But above all, fulfill your priestly calling, so many souls are depending on it for salvation.
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:2-3.
I love you. Show My love, share My light, rescue My people from their plight! Set them free, show them Me, awaken them to their destiny! I am with you, you are not walking alone. You are the body of Christ, your great High Priest. But how can two walk together unless they agree? Homologia!